A $1,000 gift from an Ada resident will help two East Central University students travel to Russia next spring to learn more about the country and language they are studying.

Linda Ainsworth made the gift on behalf of her late husband, Gary Ainsworth, an Ada businessman who had made several trips to Ukraine and had taken Russian language classes at ECU taught by Dr. Mara Sukholutskaya, associate professor of English and languages.

The East Central University community will watch history in the making with the inauguration of the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama.

On Tuesday [Jan. 20] ECU will host a viewing of the inauguration on a large projection screen in the Estep Multimedia Center in the University Center. The viewing is free of charge. The doors will be open from 9 a.m. until noon. The swearing-in ceremony begins at 10:30 a.m.

The university was established as East Central State Normal School on March 25, 1909. A celebration was held in Ada when then-Gov. Charles N. Haskell signed the legislation, said Dr. Duane C. Anderson, ECU's interim president.

Motorists approaching the East Central University campus may do a double-take the first time they see a giant silhouette of a horse looming where houses once stood in the 800 block of East 12th Street.

Students in the Sculpture II class at ECU built the large-scale silhouette as the first installed work in a sculpture garden that has begun taking shape in the heart of the new Arts District of Ada.

East Central University's mission is to foster a learning environment in which students, faculty, staff, and communityinteract to educate students for life in a rapidly changing and culturally diverse society. Within its service area,East Central University provides leadership for economic development and cultural enhancement.